]]> http://ridestudiocafe.com/2013/05/16745/feed/ 0 http://ridestudiocafe.com/2013/05/rsc-team-heading-to-rapha-gentlemens-race/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rsc-team-heading-to-rapha-gentlemens-race http://ridestudiocafe.com/2013/05/rsc-team-heading-to-rapha-gentlemens-race/#comments Fri, 03 May 2013 13:57:48 +0000 rsc http://ridestudiocafe.com/?p=16729 All-Star RSC Team Off to Rapha Gentlemen’s Race

by Matt Roy, RSC Endurance Team Member

This weekend, the Ride Studio Cafe Endurance Team is heading to southern NJ to take part in the fifth edition of the Rapha Gentlemen’s Race, an unsanctioned, unsupported 130-mile adventure through the hills and dales along the Delaware River. The route promises to be challenging with lots of dirt, chip-seal and even a river crossing. The format is unique; 26 teams of six riders each start at three minute intervals, seeded by an honor-system-of-sorts (with the faster teams starting later). The first team to cross the finish line together (with all members) is the “winner.” It’s a 6-person team time trial. Except there’s no one in a follow car barking encouragement through a megaphone. Oh, and it’s at least 7-hours long.

Photo: Chris Milliman, from the 2012 edition of the Rapha Gentlemen’s Race in which many RSC racers participated and are still telling the tales.

One hundred thirty miles is a long day in the saddle by any measure. To do this as a cohesive team of six is where the beauty (and the beast) of the Gentlemen’s race comes in. I’ve had the fortune of riding in 4 out of the 5 Northeast editions of the Rapha Gent’s Race (in the Catskills, the Lehigh Valley, in the Green Mountains and the latest edition, in the Delaware River valley) and each year, with a different group of riders.

The Ride Studio Cafe team for the 2013 edition of the #RgR is pretty special. The foundation of the team is the Endurance Team stalwarts, David Wilcox (calves of steel, heart of gold), John Bayley (Irish, eats gravel for breakfast, painfully humble) and myself (dissertation legs, boat anchor). The three of us have a penchant for the ridiculous.

We’ve supplemented our trio with what amounts to an absolute all-star cast. Starting with New England’s sweetheart, Mo Bruno Roy. Mo, who has never ridden more than 100-miles, will most likely be towing her slovenly husband around the entire course.

Next up, Lyne Bessette. Put it this way, she has her own Wikipedia page which is FULL of her amazing accomplishments. And even then, it only scratches the surface. She has won countless races of all kinds and includes world titles as a tandem pilot for with blind athlete Robbi Weldon in road and time-trial disciplines.

Lastly, six-time national cyclocross champ and the top-placing American at this year’s Cyclocross World Championships, Tim Johnson will be slowing us down with his turtle-saving escapades. But we’ll put up with it.

Follow along with the race as it starts on Saturday morning on Twitter and Instagram by searching for the RgR hashtag (#RgR). We’ll have a write-up with pictures and sordid details after the fact!

Words by Alex Grabau for Ride Studio Cafe on Tour of the Battenkill, April 13, 2013

It might be as hard to breathe during extended periods of laughter as it is to breath during a bike race. We tried our best to test this statement on our drive to Bennington, Friday afternoon, underneath a very cloudy, ominous mid-April sky. Jay, Oscar and yours-truly drove to Bennington through what seemed to be December weather. We passed an active snow plow and several trucks salting route 9 in VT. In between making-fun of eachother we shared worried glances at passing dirt roads, completely covered in snow and wondered exactly what it would be like to race road bikes in the snow, in April.

Jay and Oscar warned me as best they could. Battenkill is unforgiving. To use a popular phrase, “don’t burn matches” early. The course is long, punishing and for me, completely new. This may have been a good personality match, not knowing what was coming because it didn’t present opportunity for psyching-myself out. I was secretly very hopeful. I tried to not let it show too much because I’m somewhat superstitious about pre-race behavior. Jay and Oscar displayed no such odd behavior although Oscar did prove to have some odd bicycle preparation process that involved “micro-fiber.” We don’t need to elaborate but it required a single-purpose trip to Wal Mart.

 After about three hours of travel we arrived at Hotel 1, which will remain nameless to rob them of any potential exposure that they might gain from being featured on our blog. Hotel 1 was a terrible place that valued employee disempowerment and underhanded charging techniques. We didn’t stay at Hotel 1. We used the author’s supreme reservation-making skills to reserve three rooms at the Paradise Inn up the street. Three rooms seems excessive. Three-room reservations happen when the concierge and the caller have a misunderstanding over room number versus bed number. Despite the way our kits look from a distance, Team Sky we are not so we opted for only two rooms. Oscar drew for the single because “he has kids” while Jay and I doubled up in the king size.

 Sleeping was great although I was nervous and I thought about the marathon a lot. At that moment the bike race seemed potentially harder.The next morning we chose one of three cafe options in Bennington and the result was positive. This race report wouldn’t conform to RSC lifestyle without a report on food or coffee. We had fresh muffins and the coffee was quite good as well. I mistakenly ate a little too much, continueing to stuff myself on the way to the race where we parked in a large grass lot. Oscar was getting amped up and wanted to park in his own custom spot. We talked him down.

 We nearly missed getting our numbers. Battenkill sends about 50 emails to racers after they register. It is a superbly organized race. I’m sure somewhere in 50 gigs of emails from them there was instruction on how to reach the registration tent but I chose instead of reading them to ask everyone I passed on the tent’s whereabouts and made it with almost zero-minutes before cutoff. It reminded me of some car races I’d done, untold preparation only to be marred by the final moments. Jay and Oscar were definitely in the red zone arriving after the A-wave registration notebook had walked away with an official after they stated “time’s up.” Luckily we were in the B wave. Next year we need to spend less time discussing tin roof architecture over coffee.

 The race started in a fairly unremarkable way. No crashes and controlled by a pace car. I was trying to feel my legs out and look around for people who were smiling. For some reason I think that people in a good mood feel positive about having a good performance. Some guy rode off the front for 5 minutes and was gravitationally sucked back into pack-orbit, never to be seen again. There was a second cat 3 group 10 minutes up the road. We were started in waves. Each Cat 3 pack had about 150 riders. Somehow I ended up in 3rd wheel going onto the dirt for the first time. I was happy about that because I didn’t want to get caught up in a crash for whatever reason. Jay and Oscar were nearby. We kept to the front 1/3rd from what I could tell. The first dirt climb onto Robertson road was short but very steep. So steep that people found it necessary to drop their chains in protest. This wasted a lot of energy and happened more later. Some bikes in the race were in terrible disrepair. Having never seen the course I can’t recall what-happened-where exactly and aside from seeing about a hundred beautiful antique barns only several points on the course became ingrained into my memory.

 Without becoming too specific on road names and elevation changes we transitioned many times from tarmac to hard packed dirt and even sometimes muddy sections. The first few transitions were the most tenuous because I had no idea who could handle their bikes on mixed surfaces. Luckily most people had no problem. The dirt roads were laden with smooth radiused divots and most people didn’t take care to look far ahead causing a phenomenon of riders hitting a single bump in succession because the first guy either failed to look or failed to point it out.

 Notable points of difficulty were Mountain road and Meetinghouse Road, both very steep dirt climbs that took a rider out of their rhythm, slowing them to a pace that made pushing pedals feel more like lifting weights. On to the team of three- our first road race of the year and we didn’t do too much discussion on tactics. Jay wasn’t feeling well, a week of bad rest, new equipment and a course which he claims didn’t suit him. He said later that he never got comfortable on the bike, pressing to the front early to test his legs he decided that it would be in his best interest if he withdrew early. Oscar had a similar feeling although not to the point of withdrawing he finished in 3 hours 11 minutes. During the race Oscar and I talked a bit. It was apparent that he also wasn’t comfortable. At mile 29  he said that he “finally felt warmed up.” I remember that because I asked him if I should jettison my nearly finished water bottle. He laughed and said “no” because he judged my remaining water against the remaining distance. With about 20k to go I ran out of water and my left leg began to cramp. It would have been sooner if I didn’t save those extra sips. Thanks Oscar.

 The last leg after Meetinghouse road was by far the most interesting and could probably be a case study for riding etiquette. What I’m suggesting is that I’m not sure what I did was right or not. During the race part of our wave, the B wave caught and passed the A wave that started 10 minutes before us. The marshalls neutralized the A wave as we passed, then later there was a break from the A wave that re-caught us at mile 50 or so. Adding to this confusion there were riders from the elite fields who had been dropped falling by the wayside. Riders were everywhere and it was difficult to tell where one was positioned in the final miles. With 2k to go (I used the signs) I got into a very aggressive paceline of about 10 guys. They were from the A field which either meant I was 10 minutes ahead of them or that they were beating me because they started before me. I’m not sure. We were going nearly max and I was nursing my cramping left leg by pedaling harder with my right. I wanted to ride with purpose and take meaningful pulls but with only 2k to go I didn’t really give any regard to those who might not be able to hang on. “Slow down! Pull off!”- someone yelled at me. I yelled back, “there’s 2k to go!” There’s no time to wait, plus there was no one behind us, only in front. As it turned out there was actually only 500m to go and these guys were (in my opinion) being lazy, or cunning.. or confused. [I was clearly confused also Ed.]  With about 100m to go 4 guys pulled into a sprint and I had nothing left. Somehow I out pedaled a final rider although I’m not even sure he was in my wave. 2:55 and 37th place. I was a minute off the leader. I was really happy with my finish despite the placement.

 By the numbers we were 3 guys that used 5 microfiber towels for 3 bikes in 4 reserved hotel rooms. We drove 6 hours to ride for half of that. We probably laughed 700 times though which By the numbers we got quality and quantity.  I think that the next stop for us is Blue Hills.

by Joy Stark-Smith RSC Women’s Team Co-Captain

If the RSC Cafe Racers seem particularly eager this racing season, it may be because of our new Honey Bicycles sponsorship. Many members of the team are riding Honey’s new Final 200 Meters race bike: a lightweight steel model that is purpose-built for fast criteriums and circuit races. We’re finding the stiffness and handling of the bikes make them ideal for tight corners, power climbs, and the full-on sprints needed to get on the podium.

Women’s team co-captain Erin Faccone put her new Honey to the test at the season opening Chris Hinds Memorial Criterium last Saturday. I sat down with her after the race to learn more about why she chose Honey, and how the bike performed.

What made you decide to buy a Honey?

Erin: I’d been considering a new road bike for some time – my prior bike never fit exactly right and was a bit on the heavier side. Honey offered me a stiff, light bike that, most importantly, would fit me perfectly. Add in the option of custom paint colors, and I was sold! Also, once I saw the Team Edition bike at RSC, I knew I would have major FOMO if I didn’t get one.

What do you look for in a race bike?

I was looking for a bike that would be stiff and responsive. Race-wise, I tend toward flat, fast crits. I wanted a bike that would handle really well, and that would let me pedal through turns without slamming my foot into my wheel and crashing. Being “vertically challenged” makes toe overlap a genuine concern. Also, I wanted a bike that would let me get lower in the front-end than I was capable of on my prior bike, and that would actually be comfortable riding on the hoods and in the drops. With previous bikes I’ve either felt very stretched on the hoods/drops, or had to deal with wonky steering because of super-short stems.

How does the ride quality compare to other bikes you’ve raced?

I’ve only been on the bike a handful of times so far, but it’s been beyond my expectations. It’s stiffer than any bike I’ve ever ridden before. It felt super zippy even on the first ride. I took it through some hard cornering and a few quick sprints and felt great – like I’d been riding it forever. After my first long ride with it, I’m more pleased than ever.

As a sprinter, what qualities do you think are most important in a bike?

I have to say I’m not the most discerning in terms of frame composition, having only ridden a handful of frames before. Stiff and responsive were my two most desired attributes. I feel spoiled now, because the bike came out stiff, responsive, AND light!

As a smaller woman, has fit been an issue for you? How does the Honey feel?

Historically I’ve had to choose between running a “normal” length stem and feeling stretched while riding on the hoods, or running a super short stem and having weird steering issues. The Honey is the first bike I’ve ever felt more comfortable on the hoods and, dare I say, in the drops than on the flats. On my first ride, I did some out of the saddle efforts, and was shocked at how stable I felt sprinting from the drops. Aside from the bike itself, I had a fitting with Rob from RSC which was super thorough. We ended up changing my position pretty significantly from what I was used to. The result has been more comfort and more power, so win-win!

I see you opted for custom paint colors. What inspired your unusual selection?

A lot of my original inspiration to get a Honey came from the RSC Team Edition matte white, black, and blue edition. I went into the process wanting that same custom scheme. However, since I was already opting for custom paint, Rob and Patria encouraged me to consider adding some of my own unique flare. Red is my favorite color, so I was toying with ideas on how to incorporate red into the RSC color scheme. Then I was inspired by the recent run of Chris King purple hubs (despite that I don’t actually own them) and somehow the white/purple/red scheme was born in my mind. The final paint job totally exceeded my expectations! The purple is actually a metallic, so the sun makes it shine even more. And Chip Baker told me it’s scientifically proven that purple makes you faster.

Which race are you looking forward to most this season?

This is tough. I’m actually most looking forward to the Lake Sunapee Road Race, despite that I generally tend toward fast, flat races. I raced there last year thinking the course was going to be flattish (my last ever attempt to judge a course by the online “course profile”) and got dropped so hard on the climbs. This year I want revenge!

Best of luck to you this season, Erin!

The Bike

The Racer

There are many special events and rides coming up in the next few days. We want to be sure you know what’s happening and when so that there is no confusion and help you make it to the rides and events in which you are hoping to participate!

• Saturday, April 6th:
  • 8am – Studio opens (normal time)
  • 8:30am - KIT 52-mile fast ride to Harvard leaves (8:30 is the new normal time for this ride)
  • 9am - Honey Bikes begins serving up a breakfast of fresh food that goes well with honey
  • 10am - Groups begin leaving for the Diverged Ride with the fast group off first, slowest leaves last (closer to 10:30)
  • 1pm – 5pm – Diverged riders return
  • 6pm - RSC Closes (normal time)

• Sunday, April 7th: 
  • 7:30am - Studio opens 1/2 hr. early.
  • Paris-Roubaix – This great spring classic race will be televised on our race tv today. Come watch it with us!
  • Strava Sprinter makes its World Debut here – Full Details of the sprinter and all of the rides are available. Look for the Sprinter to be parked in front of our door on Mass Ave.
  • 8:15am - Special Strava-Supported ride to Mt. Wachusett! The Sprinter will park around mile 40 to support riders on their way to Mt Wachusett (for 100 miles total) or it’ll simply be the 1/2 way point for those who are doing an 80-mile option. ROUTE
  • 9am -  Ride Studio Cafe’s 9am coffee ride (38 miles) will be run as usual and we’ll be joined by Strava employees riding bikes with us. Three different groups of speed options (15mph average, 16mph avg & 18mph+ avg) will each be led by Ride Studio Cafe Club Members.  ROUTE
  • 11:15-11:45 – Approximate time riders return.
  • ~1 – 2pm - The Strava Sprinter will again be parked in front of the RSC to support any/all riders passing through Lexington during the afternoon.

• Monday, April 8th: 
  • 11am – Meet up at the Ride Studio Cafe for a field trip…
  • 11:30am – Tour Seven Cycles. Watch and learn about how they hand-build bikes in their Watertown facility
  • 12:30pm – Tour ends
  • Note: It is fine to travel directly to Seven and meet us there. Please email your RSVP and indicate if you will meet up with us here or at Seven. We will send you directions in advance of the tour.

• Tuesday, April 9th (and every Tuesday): 
  • 10am – 3 or 4 pm - A weekly ride that is social in nature but also one that covers significant distances continues. Every week the route changes and the ride always stops somewhere for lunch. More Details

• Thursday, April 11th:
  • 5:30-7pm  - It’s the last of the 12-week Trainer Course led by RSC Club Member, Neil McInnis, which was held at the Greater Boston Running Company next door. Anyone who attended one or more of these trainer spin sessions is invited to an informal party at the RSC after this class concludes (7pm). Email for details/to RSVP.

• Saturday, April 13th: 
  • 8:30am – KIT 52-mile ride to Harvard (same route/time/pace as listed above)
  • 12pm – Randonneuring Season Kick-Off Ride - It’s a fun 67-mile ride rando-style. (It is also a RUSA permanent.) See the Full Details of the events of the day and to understand how this ride will be run. ROUTE
  • 6-9pm – PARTY! Celebrate the start of the Rando season whether or not you did the ride earlier in the day. Be sure to RSVP for the ride and party.

• Sunday, April 14th:
  • 8:45 am - New on our weekly ride calendar, this is an endurance ride of 17-18mph that emphasizes steady riding and longer distances. Look at the Ride Page for more details.
  • 9am - Regularly scheduled RSC Coffee ride ROUTE

With any luck, this makes the upcoming events more clear. We hope you join us for one or many of the rides and events that are happening here soon. Enjoy getting back on your bike this spring!

Ah, spring, or at least technically it is.  Most of my recent rides still include winter tights, lobster gloves, and constant concern for ice in the road, so if it weren’t for the spring road races starting up it sure wouldn’t feel like it!  There have been a couple races in Connecticut over the past weekends, but the Brinkerhoff Memorial (formally Johnny Cake) in New York was the first to draw out the Cafe Racers.  The category 3/4 field does 48 miles on a new hilly (for March) 12-mile circuit, so you get a little more bang for your buck than you would with a one-hour crit.

Jonathan Sussman and I represented the studio.  It was cold at the start, just above freezing, but with strong winds and some intense gusts.  This course is especially exposed to the wind, so it would play an even bigger factor than usual.

Our thinking was that a hilly 48 mile race would feel long in March, so we’d be better off saving our efforts for the second half of the race.  There were 100 racers in the field, so it was less likely that a small group would go early on.  The bigger concern for the early race would be field splits which are common in mixed category races and early season races.

We were running behind schedule and ended up starting at the back of the field.  With 100 people and narrow roads, this meant we would have our work cut out for us to move up.

The race went live and started with a tailwind, so there was less drafting benefit as a the attacks from the gun went.  Our speed rocketed up to over 30mph over the pancake flat tarmac and there was a crash not 10 minutes in.  I was 2 wheels behind the crash and ended up riding in the ditch for 100 meters to avoid it.  The back of the field had to brake hard, and with the attacks continuing on the front, the field became hugely fragmented.  Large gaps were everywhere.

So, like everyone else that started near the back, I chased.  And it hurt.  A lot.  So much for my plan to warm up in the first half of the race.  Coming off a rest week, this was my first time going hard in a while so that made it just that much worse.

The timing of this was especially nasty, because after 3 minutes or so of chasing we hit one of the courses hills (although small).  Racers were going up in flames everywhere.

Luckily I was able to reconnect with the leaders, but it was a good 10 minutes before I made it, and I just barely made it.  If the leaders were going just a little bit faster I would have been packing up my bags early.  There only looked to be about 40 or 50 people left out of 100 and I had chased back on with just one other person.  We must have passed 20 or 30 other racers who were going up in flames over that time.  Unfortunately John was caught up behind this as well and did not reattach.

I felt like death once I did rejoin the leaders.  We hadn’t even been racing for 20 minutes at this point and it’s a 2- hour race, so I settled in and did everything I could to be as lazy as possible.

The problem with being lazy in a road race is that it can be hard to get yourself going again.  My legs felt like junk until the half way point, and I forced myself to save everything for the final lap.

There were a few people (5-7?) off the front this whole time holding a ~1 minute gap.  You’d think the strong winds would make it difficult for them to stay away, but I think it just discouraged an organized chase.  I certainly wasn’t going to help the chase effort and a 1-minute gap seemed too big to bridge, so sitting back and praying for it all to come back together seemed to be my best option.

So on the last lap I stopped sitting in and started to position myself.  At first it seemed like mission impossible.  Part of the problem was that I was too comfortable.  Another issue was that everyone else was trying to get position too, but this was on the first half of the course when we had a tailwind.  It was easy to move up there.  I was sitting pretty much on the very back of the remaining 40-man group with 10 miles to go.

When the race turned to the west and went over the punchy climb coming out of Athens we got all strung out.  The wind was a hard cross wind on the right and everyone was looking to the left for shelter.  I felt good and was able to gun it and go from 40^th to 10^th in about a minute.  Booya!  Crisis averted.

The course turns north into the NW headwind for the last 5 miles.  Staying to the right of the field was easier, but the left side was where you had to be to move up.   Not wanting to give back the positions I’d just gained, I spent most of my time to the left.

At 1k to go the break was obviously going to stay away, but we were still packing in for the sprint, handlebar to handlebar.  I was in a decent spot, maybe 10-15^th, but 5 or 10 people had to break the rules and ride well over the yellow line to pass.  I have no respect for this.  The people at the front had done extra work in the wind to get there and deserved their position.

I sprinted with the bunch and finished somewhere in the middle, right where I was positioned going into it.  The last 300 meters after a 90 degree left turn were tricky due to the wind.  Again, it was less work and faster to be on the sheltered right side.

The new course was awesome.  Let’s do it again!